WCR This Week

Community healing takes long-term care

CNS PHOTO | BOB ROLLER

Red Cross volunteers serve hot meals to those affected by Hurricane Sandy. "There is a real dynamic to how communities recover from natural disasters," said counsellor Jennifer Long.

October 28, 2013

PETE SHEEHAN
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

After debris has been cleared and physical rebuilding is well underway, counsellors for victims of natural disasters and violence contend that real healing still needs to take place.

"There is a real dynamic to how communities recover from natural disasters," said Jennifer Long, director of the St. Joseph's Counselling Center for Catholic Charities of Oklahoma City.

Long's agency is responding to the tornados that struck Oklahoma in May, killing 24 people, injuring hundreds, and causing an estimated $2 billion in damage.

"There is the heroic phase," where people come and try to help those badly affected by the disaster. There is also "the honeymoon phase," Long said, when there is "overwhelming support from unaffected areas" when people begin to think the problem is being solved.

Yet disillusionment follows. Those affected begin to look at their situation, sometimes experiencing suicidal thoughts and other psychological distress. There is also disgruntlement about what has been done to help, Long said.

After several months, Long said victims of the disaster enter into the reconstruction phase, when they begin to recognize their need for help and to seek counselling. "Our job is to come in and help out," she said.

This process is not just limited to natural disasters. Beth Chambers, director of Catholic Charities for southern Boston, has had experience in grief counselling since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

"Two of the planes that were hijacked on Sept. 11 were out of Boston," Chambers said. "We are still counselling family members of passengers, pilots and crew members," Chambers said. Other incidents such as the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing can trigger memories and emotions in families who lost loved ones to previous terrorist attacks.

Four months after the marathon bombing she said her office was expecting those affected to come forward.

Both Chambers and Long noted that the initial focus is on individuals affected most directly by the trauma of violence or natural disaster. That is the key to healing the larger community.

TREAT PTSD

For the larger influx of people who will seek the agency's help later, Long said the goal is to help people suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder or to help prevent others from developing it.

Long said an important way to help people recovering from a natural disaster is to help them regain a sense of security. "Sometimes people ask, 'Can you guarantee that this won't happen again?' Of course, we can't."

But counsellors can help people develop a plan to deal with a disaster if it happens again. Disaster aid can also help ease people's anxieties - even those who don't necessarily need that kind of assistance.

Long said counsellors also can teach survivors how to "desensitize themselves to certain emotional triggers." For example, they urge people not to link clouds in the sky or even thunder and lightning, to possible tornados.

"We help people to tell their stories," Long said, "so that they feel less isolated and can see that others have managed to get through this."